Unified approach to prewetting and wetting phase transitions

Prewetting, sequential wetting, and gravity thinning transitions are consid ered using the same generalized Ginzburg-Landau free energy functional. It is shown by asymptotic and numerical analysis that by varying the distance from the three-phase coexistence curve and the amplitudes of the power-law adsorbate-absorbent potential, it is possible to account for both the disco ntinuous formation of a finite layer of the liquid phase on the substrate a nd the transition to complete wetting. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All r ights reserved.